CARBONDALE, Ill. – In a game with just two lead changes, it was the second one that had the biggest impact. A 3-pointer by Tyler Smithpeters with 7:37 to go helped ignite a decisive 18-2 run by Southern Illinois (22-9, 11-7 MVC), and the Salukis held off visiting Missouri State, 78-68, here Saturday in the final regular-season game of the Missouri Valley Conference slate.
Anthony Beane led all players with 19 points for SIU, while Leo Vincent added 17, and Bola Olanivan logged 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Salukis.
Missouri State (12-18, 8-10) got 16 points from Chris Kendrix and 15 from Dequon Miller, while Camyn Boone recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards. Jarred Dixon also pitched in 13 points for the Bears to go with 4 steals and 4 assists.
MSU led for more than 27 minutes and pushed ahead by seven points on three occasions in the second half. The last was on a pair of free throws by Kendrix with 10:28 to play that made it a 53-46 contest. Kendrix missed the last of the three free throws in that opportunity after being fouled beyond the arc, and the Bears would miss 8 fouls shots the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the Salukis inched closer with a pair of buckets by Olanivan, a layup by Vincent and a go-ahead trey by Smithpeters.
Kendrix finally broke the Bears’ cold spell of nearly five minutes with a free throw at the 5:35 mark to end an 18-2 run by the home side. The only Bear points in that stretch were credited to Boone after Sean O’Brien tipped it into the Missouri State basket.
“We put ourselves in a position and competed,” said MSU head coach Paul Lusk. “We missed a lot of free throws and had a lot of turnovers, but I thought our guys really played hard. This meant something to them.”
The Bears finished 19-for-32 (.594) at the foul line, including 14-for-25 in the second half. MSU also committed 17 turnovers – 13 from SIU steals – and were out-rebounded by a convincing 47-31 margin.
SIU turned 15 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points and got 45 points off the bench in a solid senior night sendoff for Beane and company. With his 19 points, Beane tied the SIU Arena career scoring record.
For the game, MSU finished 21-for-51 (.412) from the field, 7-of-20 (.350) beyond the arc with 12 assists and 10 steals.
SIU was 22-for-53 (.415) on the night, including a 9-for-26 (.346) effort from bonus distance. SIU converted 60 percent of its shots in the second half and finished with 15 assists and 22 turnovers.
In the first half, the Bears trailed for only 13 seconds and held the Salukis to just 7 field goals to go into the intermission with a 33-30 lead.
MSU held its biggest lead with 1:21 left in the half after Ryan Kreklow drained a 3-pointer and was flagrantly fouled after the shot. He made both foul shots to put MSU up 33-26, but Kreklow was also penalized on the same play, giving SIU two technical shots, which Beane subsequently made.
The Bears and the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference clubs now set their course for St. Louis and Arch Madness, March 3-6 at Scottrade Center. The MVC will officially announce the tournament pairings on Sunday morning. However, with the loss, Missouri State ties for sixth place in the MVC standings, but will lose the tie-breaker with Indiana State for the No. 6 seed. The Bears and Sycamores split the two regular-season meetings, but Indiana State will win the seeding tie-breaker criteria based on its final regular-season RPI. As the No. 7 seed, MSU will play No. 10 seed Drake (7-23, 2-16) on Thursday at 8:35 p.m., in the opening round.
